Random Access Memories

Daft Punk will premiere their eagerly anticipated fourth album Random Access Memories on May 17 at the Wee Waa Show, an annual fair held in Narrabri Shire in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, “renowned for featuring some of the western plains’ of New South Wales’ finest sheep and cattle.” The news was broken yesterday by local publication The Courier. According to the paper, Narrabri Shire Mayor Conrad Bolton thought it was a “mate was pulling my leg” when he received a phone call from Sony Music inquiring about the prospect of the band holding the worldwide launch of its new album here.

“We think Wee Waa is so uniquely Australian, so the folks at Sony Music along with Daft Punk thought it fitted the bill perfectly,” said Bolton. “Daft Punk is known for breaking down barriers and coming up with new creative, innovative ideas to launch their albums.”

The article states that the album’s premiere will be streamed live, but no details have been made public as of yet.

Between airing late-night TV commercials and postering cities with their likeness, Daft Punk have brought some serious fun back to the music industry. Here’s hoping more artists follow their whimsical ways.

After word spread like wildfire yesterday when Daft Punk‘s forthcoming album Random Access Memories was listed for pre-order on iTunes with a May 21 release date, the French duo followed last night with a 15-second TV commercial airing during Saturday Night Live. Much like the first TV spot they ran during SNL earlier in the month, the commercial featured 15 seconds of a guitar dominated groove presumably played by Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers. Daft Punk also launched a website for the album, though it contains precious little information (though a brief press release from their publicist says RAM will be available on CD and vinyl). Okay, so now we know the name of the album, what the album artwork looks like and when it will be released, What future surprises could the twosome have up their sleeves?
Image of Daft Punk NYC street poster by Darren Ressler

Daft Punk‘s eagerly awaited new album now has a title and release date. The follow-up to 2005’s Human After All is a 13-track affair now known as Random Access Memories — allow us to be the first to refer to the album as RAM — is available for pre-order on iTunes. News of the album’s release comes after news spread earlier in the week that the French duo comprised of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter’s label had registered 13 songs with music licensor PPL. Previously the duo teased fans with a 15-second commercial during an episode of Saturday Night Live and placing posters up in New York, Miami and other cities.